InPrincipio Podcast

A meditation on the Feast of Saint Sylvester Gozzolini, Abbot, from Dom Guéranger’s The Liturgical Year. Dom Prosper Guéranger's The Liturgical Year, a monumental fifteen-volume work, offers a comprehensive exploration of the Catholic Church’s liturgical calendar, guiding readers through the spiritual and historical richness of the Church’s worship. Written in the 19th century, the series prov...

A meditation on the Feast of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, from Dom Guéranger’s The Liturgical Year. Saint Catherine of Alexandria, venerated as a virgin and martyr, is traditionally described as a brilliant young noblewoman of the early 4th century who embraced Christianity and used her extraordinary learning to defend the faith against pagan philosophers. When Emperor Maxentius persecuted Chris...

A meditation on the Feast of Saint John of the Cross, from Dom Guéranger’s The Liturgical Year. Saint John of the Cross (1542–1591), the great Spanish mystic, reformer, and Doctor of the Church, was born Juan de Yepes in Fontiveros and entered the Carmelite Order, where he soon met St. Teresa of Ávila and joined her in the reform that would become the Discalced Carmelites. A man of profound interi...

A meditation on the Twenty-fourth and Last Sunday after Pentecost, from Dom Guéranger’s The Liturgical Year. Dom Guéranger’s account of the Twenty-Fourth and Last Sunday after Pentecost offers a powerful theological vision of how the liturgical year culminates in the mystery of the world’s final consummation. He explains that although the number of Sundays after Pentecost varies, the Church delibe...

A meditation on the Feast of Pope Saint Clement I, from Dom Guéranger’s The Liturgical Year. Pope Saint Clement I, traditionally regarded as the third successor of Saint Peter and one of the earliest Fathers of the Church, served as Bishop of Rome in the late first century and is remembered for his steadfast leadership during a period marked by Roman persecution and internal disputes within Christ...

A meditation on the Feast of Saint Cecilia, from Dom Guéranger’s The Liturgical Year. Saint Cecilia, one of the most beloved early Roman martyrs, is traditionally remembered as a noble Christian maiden who vowed her virginity to God and converted her husband Valerian and his brother Tiburtius through the preaching of the angel who guarded her. Under the persecutions of the third century, all three...

A meditation on the Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, from Dom Guéranger’s The Liturgical Year. The Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, celebrated on November 21, commemorates the tradition that Mary, as a young child, was brought by her parents Joachim and Anne to the Temple in Jerusalem and dedicated wholly to God’s service. This ancient tradition—rooted in...

A meditation on the Feast of Saint Felix of Valois, co-founder of the Trinitarian Order, from Dom Guéranger’s The Liturgical Year. Saint Felix of Valois (c. 1127–1212) was a French hermit and nobleman who devoted his life to prayer, penance, and works of mercy, and who eventually became known as the co-founder of the Order of the Most Holy Trinity for the Redemption of Captives. After years of liv...

A meditation on the Feast of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, from Dom Guéranger’s The Liturgical Year. Saint Elizabeth of Hungary (1207–1231) was a princess renowned for her deep piety, charity, and love for the poor. Married young to Ludwig IV of Thuringia, she lived a life of prayer and generous service, using her royal resources to found hospitals, feed the hungry, and care personally for the sick....

A meditation on the Feast of the Dedication of the Basilicas of Saints Peter and Paul in Rome, from Dom Guéranger’s The Liturgical Year. The Feast of the Dedication of the Basilicas of Saints Peter and Paul, kept on November 18, commemorates the consecration of the two great Roman churches built over the tombs of the Apostles who stand at the very foundation of the Church’s faith and unity. Saint...

A meditation on the Feast of Saint Gregory Thaumaturgus, from Dom Guéranger’s The Liturgical Year. Saint Gregory Thaumaturgus, or Gregory the Wonderworker, was a third-century bishop of Neocaesarea in Pontus whose life was marked by deep learning, pastoral zeal, and remarkable miracles. Born into a distinguished pagan family, he converted to Christianity as a young man and became a devoted student...

A meditation on the liturgy of the Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost, from Dom Guéranger’s The Liturgical Year. On the Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost, the Church stands at the threshold of the year’s end, and the liturgy turns our hearts both toward the coming of Advent and the final fulfillment of God’s promises. The prayers and readings speak gently but firmly of God’s enduring thoughts o...

A meditation on the Feast of Saint Gertrude the Great, from Dom Guéranger’s The Liturgical Year. Saint Gertrude the Great (1256–1302) was a German Benedictine nun and mystic whose profound intellectual gifts and deep contemplative life made her one of the most influential figures of medieval spirituality. Entering the monastery of Helfta at a young age, she received a classical education and later...

A meditation on the Feast of Saint St. Josaphat Kuntsevych, from Dom Guéranger’s The Liturgical Year. Saint Josaphat Kuntsevych (1580–1623) was a Basilian monk, archbishop, and martyr who worked tirelessly for the unity of the Church in Eastern Europe. Born in Volodymyr, in present-day Ukraine, to Orthodox parents, he embraced the Union of Brest, which brought many Ruthenians into communion with R...

A meditation on the Feast of Saint Didacus of Alcalá, from Dom Guéranger’s The Liturgical Year. Saint Didacus of Alcalá (c. 1400–1463), also known as San Diego, was a humble Franciscan lay brother from San Nicolás del Puerto in Andalusia, Spain. Drawn to a life of solitude and prayer, he first lived as a hermit before joining the Franciscan Order, where he became known for his deep humility, simpl...

A meditation on the Feast of Pope Saint Martin I (reigned 649-655 AD), from Dom Guéranger’s The Liturgical Year. Pope Saint Martin I, born in the early 7th century in Todi, Italy, served as pope from 649 to 655 and is remembered for his steadfast defense of orthodox teaching on the two wills of Christ against the Monothelite heresy. Shortly after his election, he convened the Lateran Council of 64...

A meditation on the Feast of Saint Martin of Tours, patron of France, from Dom Guéranger’s The Liturgical Year. Saint Martin of Tours (c. 316–397) was a Roman soldier turned Christian monk and bishop, renowned for his humility, charity, and missionary zeal. Born in Pannonia (modern-day Hungary), he was conscripted into the Roman army as a young man, where his most famous act occurred—cutting his m...

A meditation on the Feast of Saint Andrew Avellino, from Dom Guéranger’s The Liturgical Year. Saint Andrew Avellino (1521–1608) was a Theatine priest renowned for his deep humility, strict asceticism, and zealous reform of clergy and religious life. Born Lancellotto Avellino in Castronuovo, Italy, he studied law and theology in Naples and became a priest, dedicating himself to the confessional and...

A meditation on the Feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Saviour (the Lateran Basilica), from Dom Guéranger’s The Liturgical Year. The Feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Saviour (November 9), also known as the dedication of the Archbasilica of the Most Holy Saviour at the Lateran, commemorates the consecration of the oldest and highest-ranking church in Christendom—the cath...

In Chapter 3 of Fr. Martin von Cochem’s Explanation of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the author unfolds the “mysteries of the Holy Mass,” declaring it the greatest of all divine works—an ocean of graces surpassing comprehension. He begins by praising its infinite richness, illustrating through the story of St. John of Facundo how deeply the saints grasped its hidden realities. He then shows how...

A meditation on the Octave Day of the Feast of All Saints, from Dom Guéranger’s The Liturgical Year. The Octave Day of All Saints (November 8) brings to a close the Church’s radiant celebration of the triumph of the blessed, uniting heaven and earth in one hymn of hope and longing. Dom Guéranger, drawing from the Church’s own liturgy, calls the faithful—still pilgrims on earth—to lift their hearts...

A meditation on the Seventh Day within the Octave of the Feast of All Saints, from Dom Guéranger’s The Liturgical Year, The Seventh Day within the Octave of All Saints turns the Church’s meditation toward the mystery of Christian death and, in a special way, toward the blessed innocence of children whom God calls early to Himself. The liturgy and commentary for this day recall the serene and faith...

A meditation on the Sixth Day within the Octave of the Feast of All Saints, from Dom Guéranger’s The Liturgical Year. The Sixth Day within the Octave of All Saints turns the Church’s gaze especially toward the souls of the just who, though not yet admitted to the full vision of God, are assured of eternal glory. The liturgy on this day reflects a gentle shift from the triumph of the saints in heav...

A meditation on the Fifth Day within the Octave of the Feast of All Saints, from Dom Guéranger’s The Liturgical Year. The Fifth Day within the Octave of the Feast of All Saints continues the Church’s solemn commemoration of the heavenly multitude who share in the glory of God. Throughout the octave, the liturgy maintains the joy and triumph of All Saints’ Day, inviting the faithful to persevere in...

A meditation on the Feast of Saint Charles Borromeo, and the Fourth Day within the Octave of the Feast of All Saints, from Dom Guéranger’s The Liturgical Year. Saint Charles Borromeo (1538–1584) was a cardinal and Archbishop of Milan who became one of the leading figures of the Counter-Reformation and a model of pastoral zeal. Born into a noble family in Italy, he was made a cardinal by his uncle,...